by Sophia Banks
“East 103rd and 3rd.” Gracie’s attraction to the man festered inside her. His compassion in regards to Tamika had caught her off guard and for the first time she began to seriously consider sleeping with him. If he would still have her after finding out she was still a virgin, that is.
Tyler pressed a button on the side panel of the limo and spoke into a speaker. “Paul, can you please drive to East 103rd and 3rd? We will be dropping Ms. Johnson off at her home.”
“Sure thing, Mr. Scott,” the box crackled back. Tyler turned his attention back to Gracie. “We should have you home in no time. I don’t want to keep you out late, sleep is very important during times of high stress.”
Sadness at the thought of being alone crept in Gracie’s head. Now that she didn’t have to worry about fending off Tyler’s advances, she wanted nothing more than for him to try again. The feeling of his hands on her body drove was damn near the only thing that took her mind off Tamika. “Tyler, can I ask you a personal question?”
“Sure, go ahead.”
“How do you do it? How do you go along with your life while a loved one is destroying theirs, right in front of you?”
Tyler sighed. “Well, it’s very difficult and truth be told I still spend a decent amount of my day worrying about Jimmy. I suppose what helps me most is focusing on becoming a better person instead of worrying about him. That way, when he finally decides he wants some help, I will be in the best position as possible to help him. Does that make sense?”
Gracie nodded. “A lot of sense. I wish I was as strong as you, because right now I can’t get Tamika out of my head. I am so worried about her.” A tear trickled down Gracie’s face and she wiped it away. “I just hope she’s okay.”
Tyler grabbed a Kleenex and moved across the limo to sit next to Gracie. “Here, relax Gracie. Everything is going to be ok.” He wrapped an arm her shoulder and cradled her in the nook of his arm.”
Gracie let it all out. She wasn’t sure if it was because of Tyler’s admission about his brother, the alcohol she drank or the fatigue she felt in her bone, but she let the walls she had built for protection down and cried on his shoulder.
Tyler held her tight and swayed her gently. “It’s going to be ok, Gracie, let it all out. Everything will be ok.”
Gracie sniffled and looked Tyler in the eye. “I love her so much, Tyler. I don’t want to lose my little sister.”
“It’s going to be okay, Gracie. One way or the other, everything will be ok.”
Gracie wasn’t sure she believed him, but let his soothing words calm her anyway. She looked up into Tyler’s dreamy eyes and then at his thick lips. The emotions inside her fought a war inside her stomach and eventually the craving for human contact won out. Gracie reached up and gently kissed him on the lips.
Tyler accepted her invitation and took her by the chin. His kiss was deep and when his hand found the back of Gracie’s neck he pulled her tight. The moans of anticipation filled the interior of the limo.
Heat spread from Gracie’s pussy. Never before had she been on fire like this. She found the feeling more intoxicating than a night of drinking. She placed her hands behind Tyler’s back and squeezed his thick back muscles with force.
Tyler broke the kiss and leaned his head back to meet Gracie’s gaze. “I want you so bad Gracie, you can’t even imagine. You are one of the most attractive women I have ever met in my life.”
Gracie shifted her legs and her soaked pussy lips rubbed against each other and caused a pleasurable ripple to flow through her body. Is this it? Will I finally lose my virginity? Will he want someone as inexperienced as me?” “Tyler wait, there is something I have to tell you.”
Tyler leaned forward and began kissing Gracie’s neck. He brought his mouth to her ear and flecked her lobe with his tongue. “What is it Gracie? You can tell me anything.”
Gracie’s hands were resting in her lap and when Tyler twisted his body her hand grazed the side of his rigid cock. Without thinking she grabbed him by the base and began stroking.
Tyler moaned and placed his hand on Gracie’s chest. “I love your curves. You are so sexy.”
Gracie looked down at the massive tent in Tyler’s trousers and began to worry about what was in his pants tearing her to shreds. “Tyler, I have to tell you something, please stop.”
Tyler pulled his head back and pushed his frazzled hair out of his face. “What is it?”
Gracie dropped her gaze and her already quickened pulse bumped up a notch. “I’m a…. virgin.”
A look of shock registered on Tyler’s face. He pulled back and took a deep breath. “Really?”
Feelings of rejection rattled in Gracie’s head and once again she looked away in embarrassment. She hated living in a society where woman were so free with their pussy and began practically giving it away before they were even legally allowed to drive a car. It made her look like a prude, and she wasn’t. Far from the case, actually, as her fantasies were about as filthy and nasty as they could get. “Yes, really,” she finally responded.
The car came to a stop and the speaker crackled. “We’re here, Mr. Scott.” Tyler reached back to press the intercom. “Thanks Paul.” He turned his attention back to Gracie and watched as she gathered her purse and reached for the door.
“I’m sorry, Tyler, but this is a mistake. I have to go.”
Tyler’s eyes went wide. “Gracie, what is it, what’s wrong?”
Gracie stopped to explain but couldn’t form a coherent thought. She opened the door and looked back. “I’m sorry, I just can’t right now. I’m sorry.”
Tyler began to protest but Gracie shut the door on him before he could.
The evening air nipped at Gracie’s flush face and she rushed to the entrance of her building. She wanted to get inside before Tyler convinced her to do something she wasn’t sure she was ready for. Or maybe it was something she was very ready for.
It didn’t matter. She needed to be inside and more importantly alone…
*
Gracie slammed the door to her building and pressed herself against the hallway wall. A strange cocktail of emotion and lust worked its way through her body and she began crying. Why am I such a hot mess?
She began replaying the whole evening in her mind and questioning each decision she had made. Should she have accepted Tyler’s invitation for a ride home? Or should she have just stuck to her guns and avoided the man at all costs? Gracie’s mind was filled with stressful thoughts and anxiety rattled her body.
She decided it was best to get inside and take a long shower. Let all the stress from the evening wash away and hopefully gain some insight as to what was going on inside her body and what she could do to retain control of herself.
A flickering light near the elevator pulled Gracie from her slumber and she wiped a warm tear from her face. The elevator opened and off stepped a drunk, happy couple with their hands interlocked.
Gracie flinched used the back of her arm to wipe away her tears and put her head down as the couple shuffled past. The sight of the happy couple made her feel even more confused than before. Can I have that with Tyler? Or does he just want to use me for sex?
The man and woman smiled at Gracie as she did her best to avoid eye contact. “Is everything okay?” the man asked.
Gracie peeked up as she squeezed by the couple in the narrow hallway. The couple had a genuine look on of concern on their faces and she didn’t want to worry them. “I’m fine, thanks. I’m just having a long week is all.”
The woman, a white lady in her late 20’s, placed a hand on Gracie’s shoulder. “Is there anything we can help you with?”
Gracie felt like a fool. The couple, even though they meant well, were making her feel like a useless little girl. Here she was a grown ass woman, a strong one at that, and she couldn’t even control her emotions.
“I’m fine, but thanks for asking.” Gracie shuffled past and looked back over her shoulder. “You two have a great night.”
; The woman nestled herself in her man’s arms. “We hope you feel better,” the man called out.
“Thanks, I’ll be fine.”
Gracie darted onto the elevator and pressed her floor. The door closed and she began she slow ascent to the tenth floor. She leaned against the back of the elevator and closed her eyes. Now what?
She had a dilemma on her hands. Tyler Scott was obviously trying to seduce her and while she was flattered, Gracie had to remain focused on her current priorities. Which were, in order:
1) Tamika
2) Her poetry
3) Her job
4) Tyler
The elevator came to a stop and the doors slowly opened. Gracie stepped off and headed for her door at the end of the hall. Once inside she checked her house phone for messages. There was one, from her aunt Joanne, asking how her and Tamika were doing. Gracie sighed and made a mental note to call her in the morning. She began to dread informing Joanne that yes, once again, Tamika had relapsed and was out running the streets.
Her aunt would, no doubt, began to ask questions to decipher why Tamika relapsed. Gracie was not looking forward to the idle speculation, especially when the answer was obvious. Tamika relapsed because she wanted to, pure and simple.
Gracie stripped in the hallway and turned on the shower as hot as it would go. She hoped the heat would help relieve the growing tension in her neck and as she eased her way under the hot water Gracie began to relax. A little, anyway.
As steam rose around her and hot water pounded against her flesh, Gracie began to ponder her situation and develop a plan going forward. Now was clearly not the time to be getting involved with a man and she would have to politely inform Tyler that he would have to leave her alone, for the time being at least.
She hoped he would respect her decision and stop trying to seduce her, because quite frankly, Gracie wasn’t sure how much longer she could fight the man off. And if he managed to break down her defenses and they became intimate, her life would become even more complicated. That was the last thing she needed, considering she could barely manage her life now.
Damn you, Tamika. I pray you’re safe but one of these days I might just have to lay an ass whipping on you!
Gracie lathered her body and the stress from the evening began to dissipate. The heat between her legs, however, only grew stronger and before long she was spreading her aching lips with her long, manicured fingers.
“Oh, Tyler,” she moaned. Gracie had promised herself to not sleep with the man, but she didn’t say anything about fantasizing about him, now did she? She knew keeping the man on her mind wasn’t such a great idea, but as her fingers began to work themselves in and out of her snatch, she didn’t care.
A girl does have needs, after all.
*
Gracie was buried under her comforter and enjoying a pleasant dream involving Tyler when her house phone began ringing off the hook.
“What the hell?” Slowly, Gracie pulled herself from her slumber and shuffled to the phone in the living room. She glanced at the alarm clock on the nightstand and saw it was only 8:30am. Who could be calling her this early? Few people had her home number and everyone who did knew she worked nights. She reached the phone and wiped the crust out of her eyes.
“Hello?”
“Ms. Gracie Johnson?” The voice was male and he was calling from a loud environment.
Gracie gasped. “Yes, who is this?”
“This is Nurse Engle at Manhattan Memorial Hospital. Your sister Tamika has overdosed and she’d currently in our care.”
*
“What are we going to do Lamar? She could have died this morning!”
Lamar shook his head. “I think it’s time we talked about long term, secure care. We need to get her off the streets, for as long as possible.”
The cousins were sitting in the cafeteria and sharing a bland turkey sandwich. Gracie had called Lamar in terror and he picked her up and drove her to the hospital. The ride over was solemn and silent. Upon arrival in the emergency room, the doctor on duty, Dr. Agricola had pulled them aside and informed them Tamika suffered a drug overdose due to intravenous cocaine use. When Gracie had asked to see her, the doctor told her she was sleeping and it was best to let her rest. So Lamar and Gracie merely peeked their heads in her room to catch a glimpse of Tamika and then satisfied she was alive, headed to the cafe for coffee and some food.
“How are we supposed to get her off the streets?” Gracie asked. “She doesn’t have insurance and you know we can’t afford private care.”
Lamar shook his head. “The city has to have publically funded drug rehab programs, no?”
Gracie shook her head. “They do, but the wait list is usually very long. Plus, from what I’ve read anyway, most addicts to go into county care programs don’t make it out sober. Those places are crawling with ex-convicts and supposedly it’s easier to get drugs in there than out on the street.”
Gracie had spent more time than she cared to remember scouring the Internet for information on treating drug addiction. Most of what she had learned had terrified her. It seemed being an addict in the United States, well a poor one anyway, was one of the worse afflictions you could have. Private care cost too much to be of use to the average addict and public care was usually nothing more than pit-stop for the hardest of users and a place for the younger addicts to learn the tools of their trade. She knew the situation Tamika was indeed a dire one, but wanted to do her best to remain in good sprits for Lamar’s sake. And Tamika’s. Soon she would wake and the last thing Gracie wanted to do was make her feel even worse.
Lamar stood and drained his coffee. He looked down at Gracie and shrugged. “I’m out of answers, Cuz. C’mon let’s get back to the emergency room and see if Tamika has woken up yet.”
“Good idea.”
Gracie picked up the empty sandwich wrapper and coffee cup and handed it to Lamar. Together they walked towards the exit. Lamar placed the trash in the wastebasket and wrapped his arm around Gracie’s back.
“Don’t worry, Gracie. We will find a way to work through this. I promise you.”
Gracie wrapped her arm under Lamar’s and hugged him. “I hope so, Lamar. I really do.”
When they returned to the emergency room there was a nurse waiting for them outside Tamika’s door.
“Are you two family member of Tamika Johnson’s?”
Gracie nodded. “Yes, I am her sister and this is her cousin, Lamar. Is she okay?”
The nurse smiled and clutched a clipboard against her chest. “Yes, she’s fine. As a matter of fact, she was just waking up when I was in there.”
Gracie looked over the nurse’s shoulder and saw Tamika’s feet moving around at the end of the bed. It appeared she was still in the process of waking up.
“I need to go see my sister, please excuse me.” Gracie attempted to move past the nurse but the woman cut off her path.
“Can I have one second of your time before you do? We need to talk about what she’s going to do once she’s discharged.”
“And when will that be?” Lamar asked.
The nurse frowned. “Well, since Ms. Johnson doesn’t have insurance and her life is no longer in danger, we will have to discharge her within the next six hours or so. I’m sorry, but we need the bed.”
“And what exactly are we supposed to do with Tamika?” Gracie snapped. “Doesn’t the county have any detox beds?”
The nurse shook her head. “I’m sorry ma’am but the waiting list for a detox bed is by priority only and like I said, Ms. Johnson’s life is no longer in danger.”
“Oh, it isn’t?" Gracie snarled. "What, you think she’s just going to stop using, all by herself? What’s wrong with this place? Don’t you people have any compassion?”
The staff behind the ER desk looked up and Lamar placed a hand on Gracie’s shoulder.
“Relax, Gracie. It’s not the nurse’s fault. Please, calm down before we go into the room.”
“I’m sorry for you
folks and I hope everything works out,” the nurse said before walking away.
Gracie closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths. “See what I mean, Lamar? What are we supposed to do? It’s us against the world.”
Lamar hugged her. “It will be ok, we will figure something out.” He hugged Gracie and whispered in her ear, “Now, pull yourself together and act strong for your sister.”
Gracie closed her eyes and tried to control her breathing. The last thing she wanted to do was upset Tamika. As pissed as she was at the girl, Gracie knew she was fortunate her sister was still alive and the last thing she wanted to do was make Tamika feel even worse than she already did.
*
“I’m sorry,” Tamika cried. “I didn’t mean for this to happen.”
Gracie wiped a tear from her face, bent over and hugged her sister. “You don’t have to apologize, baby. The important thing is your still alive.”
Tamika lay back on the hospital bed and sobbed. “At least Mama isn’t alive to see me like this. I don’t know what happened to me. I didn’t want to end up like this, one thing just led to another.”
Gracie gripped her sister’s cold hand and smiled. “I know baby, I know. How you ended up here isn’t important right now though. We need to figure out a way to keep you clean.”
Tamika pulled the sheets up close to her mouth. “I’m afraid, Gracie. I don’t want to use anymore, but I don’t know how to stop.” Her eyes danced from Lamar back to Gracie.
Lamar stood in the corner with his arms folded and a stern look on his face. “When did you start using needles? Have you been sharing them with other people?”
Tamika shook her head. “No, tonight was the first time, I swear. John gave me a fresh needle for my shot, I saw him take it from the package.”